Dr. Bob Report July 2009
A FIELD REPORT TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS
The last time most of you heard from me it was with a desperate plea for help to the thousands left homeless and without food by three horrendous hurricanes striking Haiti within a one week time frame during last September (2008). I bear some wonderful news! Once again I was staggered by the awesome power and love of our Heavenly father, as He moved hearts of thousands reached by my email plea and the “grapevine” extension of that plea that many of you were complicit in. When it was all over, approximately $45,000 had come in for the specific purpose of hurricane relief. Here are some of the results: tons of rice, beans, cooking oil that we had stepped out on faith and already purchased in both Haiti and Miami were paid for and shipped in to our clinic at Jolivert. These critical basic food commodities were distributed to over 5000 starving families over the next six months. There is no doubt that hundreds of lives were saved by our timely sharing of these items by our compassionate and overworked staff.
Another unexpected outcome of the hurricanes was a deadly epidemic of malaria caused by the billions of mosquitos breeding in the swamps and flood waters left in their wake. When Betty and I arrived soon after the hurricanes we found thousands critically ill with malaria. We were able to purchase a huge supply of chloroquin and soon she and I, along with our other staff workers were exhausted from treating as many as 300 cases daily in the clinic. In addition, thanks to our partnership with a benevolent organization in the US called MALARIA FINI, we distributed thousands of mosquito nets to these families.
Many of the victims had lost all their livestock, most of their crops, and many lost their homes or suffered sever damage to them such as roofs blown off, collapsed walls, etc. We quickly appointed a committee and earmarked several thousands of your donated dollars to be managed by this committee selected from leaders and clergy in the area to distribute funds on a case-by-case basis to hundreds of these victims. The bottom line is: every cent of all the funds donated for hurricane relief was spent to alleviate the physical suffering, sickness and hunger created by these terrible storms.
I cannot begin to estimate the number of lives touched or actually saved by this wondrous outpouring of love and compassion by Christians like yourselves from all over America., but it clearly numbered in the many thousands. As examples of how some of the funds were used, nine houses were built for those who had totally lost their homes. Livestock were replaced for many families, and, amazingly, when asked how we could best help with limited funds available for each victim, many begged us to help keep their kids in school by paying their tuition. This demonstrates so eloquently the hunger Haitians have for education. So, our already burgeoning education program has grown to include hurricane relief as yet another impetus for us help educate area children.
A pastor’s conference was held in January attended by 100 pastors and church leaders from throughout the area who shared in bible study and a discussion of the nature and significance of the Holy Spirit. This was held in the conference building so generously donated by the good folks of Buena Vista Baptist church in Owensboro, Ky. It has been so exciting to see the area clergy profiting from these events and I can tell you unequivocally such conferences have contributed hugely to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as well as to the anointing of hundreds of area pastors and church leaders. Another inspiring example of our evangelical efforts has been the formation of “Soldat Valian,” (Valiant Soldiers) a group of young Haitian Christians who are going out into remote areas heretofore never reached by evangelists or missionaries and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have helped them with uniforms, bibles, and now are introducing solar-powered audio players with which selected pastors and evangelists can share the gospel in Creole to larger groups.
Finally, I’ll report briefly on some of the crucial physical changes made on our compound over the past year. To enumerate a few: a) we have moved the “missionaries kitchen out of the residential complex into the conference center. This will make the preparation and consumption of meals for large groups of visitors and work teams much easier for everyone concerned, especially our cook, Carlene. b) a much larger bathroom, shower and double access toilet facility has been added to the north side of the residential complex. This will greatly enhance our ability to house larger groups in the future. c) New sidewalks and retaining walls have been built to keep us out of the mud during rainy seasons. d) solar power has now been partially installed throughout the compound to practically replace our dependency on diesel-powered generators. Our first priority for ‘09-‘10 will be the completion of this solar power grid to include all the nine structures on the compound. While quite costly up front, it will save us thousands of dollars in fuel cost over the years.
None of these projects could have been completed without our superb Haitian staff under the able leadership of our Haitian director, Blaud Mondesir; clinic director, Christophe Velcine and all the other dedicated staff members at Jolivert. Nor could they have been accomplished without your prayers, your financial gifts, or the sacrifice of your visits on work teams from time to time at great cost.
I apologize for the length of this report, but I just had to add one more thought: Above I had alluded to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we have witnessed in and around Jolivert over the past few years of MOL’s various involvements in the area. I must now add that we have indeed seen a literal rebirth in the attitudes of the people we come here to serve. People are kinder, more compassionate, more eager to partake in the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ with their neighbors and fellow countrymen than we have ever witnessed in our 25 years of working in Haiti. Moreover, there is a new optimism and excitement over the prospects for the future. Clearly, a new song and a new dance is arising in this land….a song of hope and a dance of joy. From the bottoms of our hearts we thank you for your contribution to this miracle in Jolivert, and we welcome you to continue to dance with us in this glorious and ongoing celebration of our Lord and our Savior….the ONLY answer to a lost and dying world. God bless all!
“Dokte Bob and Miz Betty”